Q&A Forum

Cost of New GL

We are transitioning from a $20MM one legal entity cash based company to a multi entity accrual based company. Thus, our quick books is going to quickly out grow us. Does any one have a ball park range on total cost of ownership on GL systems? I will be going through the SAAS vs buy, and the full needs analysis, but was curious how big of a price tag I was looking at. Thanks in advance for your help.

Answers

All over the map. If you can find one that has basic functions that match your process, you're likely looking at just a few $Ks a year in license costs, and a similar fee for setups. Even setting up a simple QB-online, if you pay someone to do it right (chart of accounts, transferring open invoices, etc, etc) starts at a few $K and goes up if you need to bring in significant history, customer lists, etc.

Beyond that, the sky is the limit. If you are *certain* that you need specialized process flows, then it is pretty much the same as having any other customization done.

Most of the majors have now switched to SaaS, and are reasonably customizable. You'll need to move past the smaller SaaS vendors to get the consolidations that you need. That being said, it is easy enough to get an accurate quote, typically based on number of seats, number of entities, and any add-ons that you need to purchase (eg an inventory management system).

Anon
Keith makes great points to help you think this through.
I can help you with some estimations if you like.
Please send me a private message here or email me at lgreenbtpartners [dot] com
Best regards
Len

The advice given by our Profromative experts is all very relevant. I would expand on their advice a little bit to make sure that you understand all of your needs (# of current and future licenses) including the hardware requirements of the prospective systems if you decide on the traditional route of hosting the software on your own servers. While the SAAS or cloud alternatives might look attractive, you should understand all of their current limitations through your own research. You should also consider the cost of services (training, system support, annual licenses/upgrades) when deciding. I have worked with the ancient (McCormack & Dodge), the elite ERPs (Oracle & SAP) and the in-between (MS Dynamics) as a Controller and as an system implementation manager. Not knowing anything about your business other than your sales volume and the need for a multi-company ledger system, I would recommend looking at MS Dynamics. It is not as expensive as the ERPs and can handle what you have stated. I do not represent any specific software company but can attest to the value and usefulness of this product based on my experience as a Controller and having used this and the other software systems mentioned. Let me know should you have any specific questions or need a further elaboration.

Given that Anon has only provided a sub-orbital (in excess of the 10,000') view of his/her issues surrounding the company, the suggestion that Dynamics is or isn't the answer can't be substantiated.

While it may be the best solution for Anon, it could also not be the solution for there is a wide range of issues that must be fleshed out first before a company and its project team could even possibly look at any accounting system (hence my recommendations about our webinar's, which btw are completely system agnostic).

Keith raises some extremely valid points that dovetail to my comments here. And if you customize anything, then your TCO can go through the roof. On the other hand, picking the wrong system can have the same effect.

It all comes down (cost) to what you need, which vendor actually offers all the bells, whistles and systems to be able for you to achieve your goals today, next week and 5 years down the block.

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